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The Best of Stardust 1978

In October 1971 the first issue of Stardust magazine was published and a new era of film journalism began: it was snarkier, more gossipy, more intrusive, and a smash hit with readers.

Seven years on, a special edition of the magazine called “The Best of Stardust” was published to commemorate its success.

I am sharing four articles from that today. One I think is just hilarious for its overwrought fan-girly squeeeee on behalf of Mahender Sandhu, who never really made it big, as the editor acknowledges a bit shamefacedly. The second is a “Court Martial” feature where Saira Banu answers a bunch of nosy questions. Third is an interview with Raj Kapoor and his two sons Rishi and Randhir, which is very funny and well-written (and sarcastic), and fourth is a sweet interview with Dharmendra and his next-door neighbor and lady-love Hema, proving that by the late seventies their love story was pretty widely acknowledged even by them.

I scanned them and have converted each article into a pdf file that you can download and read at your leisure.

Thanks so much for this… So FAB. I’ve just read the Mahender Sandhu article and have only one question – did Aaj Ki Radha ever get made? IF yes, I need to find it ASAP, even if Sandhu is the worst actor ever!

I have no idea…and I know I have seen him in something although off-hand I can’t remember what it was, but he wasn’t the worst actor ever by any means. I also have to wonder if he was embarrassed or pleased by the writeup—it would say a lot about him! :D

HA! That was my first thought too – MUST see this Aaj Ki Radha movie if it ever got made.:-) Bollywood obsessed minds think alike?:-) I have a couple of Mahendra Sandhu movies lying around somewhere, I think I’ll check them out…

Mega thanks for sharing these, Greta…they’re just what one needs to let the mind play after a hard’s day of avoiding work.:-D

You really need to come visit me Shalini—I have stacks and stacks of old Stardust, largely mid-70s through the mid-80s. Full of snark and so much fun! And Amitabh’s name appears NOWHERE (although he is sometimes obliquely referred to as HIM or as Jaya’s husband, ha ha)…

Oh what a blast- just got through reading them all. I laughed through the entire Mahendra Sandhu one, and the Saira and kapoors were all I could expect them to be. cant really comment on the Dharam-hema bit- am not reconciled to men having 2 wives :P

That is what is so interesting about them—even in the 1970s it seems the public were pretty accepting of them. It would be a good case study to find out what particular qualities their romance or personas had that made it okay for them to bend/break societal rules when it really wasn’t for most anyone else :)

I dont think they were bending societal rules all that much. I personally know several such people – men-and-two-wives – who did this in the 80s and their friends and families accepted that (not always happily). Of course, if the woman had so much as been accused of flirting with anybody but her husband (even if she was a bigamous second wife) – that would have been totally unacceptable!

My understanding is that Hema apparently had a big scene with Dharam’s dad and bro, and explained to them that Dharam had already accepted him as his wife, and she needed their supprot as a woman. In public, she wouldnt talk about her private life at all, and by some strange universal calculation, this was deemed respectable and socially acceptable. ugh. I dont get it all all!

Dharmendra-Hema took advantage of religious rules to circumvent bigamy law. Bigamy is not allowed as per Indian laws for people following most religions such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity etc, but muslims in India are allowed to have their own personal rules, according to which a man can have upto four wives. Not just Dharmendra, some others, viz Mahesh Bhatt, for instance) also took advantage of this fact. Salim Khan wed Helen as his second wife, taking advantage of the same fact.

The Kapoor article is by far MY favorite in the whole magazine. It is just absolutely hilarious. How I would have loved to be a fly on the wall for that interview! Just picturing “Busybee” needling them about their flops makes me fall over laughing.

(1) that Mahender Sandhu article is soo breathless! ::gasp!:: lol..
(2)Saira was only 19 when she got married to Dilip Kumar??
(3) I felt sooo sorry for “Chintuji” during the interview, lolz!
(4) I wonder what Hema’s mom said about Dharam in the other interview.. humm..!!

Yes! A real gold mine!! Thank you so much.
I’ve read only Saira Banu’s CM and am so surprised to find out she’s quite intelligent and witty too.
I have often wondered how Dilip saab and she got along – he being so superior and all that. I’m quite fascinated with him nowdays after having seen half a dozen of his films. Found him verrry sexy in Aan.

Mahendra Sandhu was hailed as the next Dharmendra, all he-man and coiffed hair. Starred in a couple of known films, including Agent Vinod, which name has been picked for a new forthcoming film starring Saif Ali Khan. Around that time a lot of Institute pretty boys were supposed to be the next big thing–Anil Dhawan, Vijay Arora, Vikram, all failed.

I remember how the film institute acting pass-outs were considered potential gold those days. Of them I think Navin Nischal actually came close to becoming a star. Then he too vanished. BTW, Shabana Azmi is also from the institute.

Thanks memsaab! Have downloaded the articles to read, but skimmed the Hema one quickly. Unfortunately left a bad taste in my mouth – like Swetha, their whole affair squicks me out, even after all these years :) (Not that my opinion matters in the least, of course). It was also interesting that the article “bengali-fied” Hema’s father’s name to ChakravOrty from plain old Chakravarthy!

My mother was a contemporary of Hema’s in their Delhi days, and her mother’s efforts at getting her daughter into movies by any means alienated her from the conservative tambram crowd- Jaya was supposedly a battle-axe of the first order…My mother said that some girls named Hema (it is a relatively common Iyengar name) were asked by prospective matrimonial prospects, to change their names, because of the notoriety of her affair with Dharam (Changing names on marriage is not a common Iyengar custom, though it is done occasionally) – in the general Iyengar community, Hema’s life is still considered somewhat scandalous and popular opinion still seems to be “Jaya spoilt her daughter’s life”….

Living well is the best revenge! so I guess Hema still comes out on top—she seems to be pretty happy anyway.

Maybe because I am a bleeding heart liberal American I tend to be less judgemental myself about what people do with their own private lives. It would be interesting to read Dharmendra’s “first” wife’s take on things, but I guess that will never happen. And anyway—it’s really none of my business, despite my love of prurient gossip mags :)

Thanks for that interesting perspective on Hema. My mother was also a contemporary of Hema–I think Hema’s father was a govt. servant and they lived in Pandara Rd in Delhi. Hema went to Convent of Jesus and Mary according to my mom (my mom and I went there too). I too have heard that Jaya really liked the money and Hema in interviews has said that she had initially only wanted to dance. Jaya had movie connections I think.
(My mom is really clueless and uninterested in Bollywood so she may have misremembered some of this.)

But as Memsaab says living well is the best revenge. Hema came from a conservative Tambram setup. I can see how it could be scandalous not just there but in any Indian middle class setting. Besides, Dharam was a Punjabi, a jat, an actor etc…. I’m Tambram too and have been exposed to this mindset. But I am also liberal, and unfortunately rootless and without strong allegiances. Hema and Dharam are just two people. As a romantic, I love their story. And now I want a Dharam for myself.

About the first wfe’s take, she compared Dharmendra to Jugnu– a man with two faces. I’ve seen pictures of Prashant Kaur, she really does exist.

Love the scans, thanks for sharing! I just blogged about Dharmendra’s 70s flicks for 70s Week, so of course I talked about his relationship with Hema. I personally find the entire thing extremely romantic and seems to have worked out very well for Hema and Dharam, although like you I wonder what his first wife makes of it. Like you said though, it’s fun to read about and speculate upon, but it’s not like we’ll ever know the full story, and why should we? It’s entirely their affair.

Prakash did speak out once when the Hema-Dharam marriage was exposed – by Rekha I believe – they had gotten married at Tirupati and Rekha happened to be visiting Tirupati at the same time. To at least shut up the men who were commenting on the Dharam-Hema marriage she said that any man if asked to choose between Hema or her, would choose Hema – I think she was commenting on the glamour and looks part. She must have suffered emotionally. Romance or not, their action was not justified or fair for sure.

Well what might be right for us may not have been right for her. The whole arranged marriage thing kind of blows my mind (okay to be honest, the whole MARRIAGE thing *period* blows my mind) but it all seems to work for lots of people.

At some point we are each responsible for our own happiness, and that’s all we can be responsible for. So hopefully they each are happy now.

Their affair affected so many people – that is what I find hard to reconcile, even after all this time. Parkash Kaur came from very modest beginnings, she sounded very bitter about Dharam’s philandering – but at that time, what *were* her options? I don’t think she had any means of supporting herself, and her maternal relatives probably wouldn’t have taken her back. I also remember some articles about Bobby Deol being very bitter about his father’s treatment of his mother, not talking to or accepting Hema and the girls even now – and Sunny apparently has a situation similar to his father’s going for years now (with Dimple?) – so I’d argue that Dharam’s actions did affect plenty of people close to him.

I’m all for love, but at this cost? When either party has prior commitments that cannot or will not be broken, it seems more selfish than anything else.

Oh and Parkash has made a very comfortable space for herself over the last 50 years, in the bosom of the sisterhood of Juhu Punjabi wives of a certain age, all married to men involved in filmdom. It is essentially a transplanted punjabi village except that they wear chanel inspired salwar kameezes. She adapted to her changed marital circumstances. I guess she had to… like all of them. To be honest I dont think Indian women have many choices, perhaps women the world over do not.

Yes, Dharmendra would have set up Prakash nicely divorce or no. He’s old fashioned and chivalrous and in any case he would have seen it as a reflection on his ability to provide. Women have choices. i’ve lived a completely different kind of life and even in my grandma’s generation there were people who went there. Maybe all this is more an issue of character than of the shortcomings of men of which there are plenty.

The dharm hema romance has got a lot of press cov erage. However Dharm is supposed to have had a hot affair with Meena Kumari too earlier (for quite a no of yrs). So hema is not the only woman, his wife Prakash had to bear with.

I think it was the same Stardust mag that labelled Hema as “First Lady of Second Marriages”.

Dharm does not publicly acknowledge his daughters (with hema). I remember watching the IFFA awards DVD where he was given the lifetime achievement award. He came on stage with all funfare with Sunny and Bobby and was going on signing their praises. No mention of his daughters at all. Of course he did not mention his daughter from his firt wife too. To me that is a sad state of affairs!

The whole thing is quite absurd. I also read Dharam and Prakash Kaur have recently (whenever recent was) adopted Hema’s girls because they didn’t have official status.

Memsaab, about Dharam’s two other daughters from Prakash, my take is that Dharmendra has a public life and Sunny and Bobby are part of it but the women are not. He never talks about Prakash’s daughters but he did name his production house after one of them (Vijayeta).

He’s going to be acting with Esha so that is publc acknowledgement of sorts.

Wonderful to read these articles again. Do you have the copy of Stardust with Raaj Kumar on the cover . It was sometime in May 1972 and had an excellent article on Suraiya and Dev Anand. Try to scan that please!

Thanks, I hope so, I like him and after seeing few more of his films , i decided i like him more now.

I think he did get far less credit than he deserved, A handsome and charming actor from yester-years with an enchanting and attractive appeal, hot youthful looks, subtle but different kind of roles, like Chetna (1970) or the receptive, understanding , good -natured young doctor in Yauwan (1973) with Yogita Wali, he was not noticed much…he was endearing in the role of a lover in Annadata or Piya Ka ghar at the same time possesed an exotic, wanton and alluring sex appeal that appeals deep to the psyche…if you see him in Hawas particularly in song – Yeh hawas kya hai…he was not cheap, but was thrilling…without being over the top …you will not find the thrill and sheer sensation in the new age movies….!!

Hi,
I have really enjoyed the spicy tit bit about the stars of yesteryear’s.I have been trying to download the pdf’s mentioned in both the articles, but somehow it isn’t working out for me.I get the message that the pdf may be corrupted.Do help me with downloading the pdf’s as you have stoked my desire to read them.
Thanks !!

Others have said that too, and I re-uploaded the two that had been specifically mentioned as problematic, yesterday. I have no trouble with them so I don’t know if it’s an issue of versioning or what…I’m sorry!

Which ones did you re-upload? I’ll specifically try to download those ones.In the 2 stardust posts, there are I guess 8 pdf’s.Hopefully, that should clear the doubt.
And pleas don’t apologize….you have done such a wonderful job with this blog…it is quite an experience reading and enjoying all your posts.I too am an avid fan of olden classics :-)

Um, that’s a little harsh (and weird)…if you’ll read the post, you’ll see that I also included four articles which I scanned from the magazine, and this was published back in early 2010, almost two years ago now. It’s far more likely that the Times of India took my scan from here.

Neha, I hope you’re only having a laugh here (that smiley hopefully indicates that) because if you’re not, that’s a downright libellous accusation to make! Memsaab’s posts are either 100% original or, where she’s borrowed material from another source, she’s always been upfront about the source, giving it full credit. She has nothing to gain from pretending others’ material is her own or denying others’ credit.

Most of us who’ve been following this blog for a while now have realised that Memsaab goes to great lengths (some would even say absurd lengths) to indulge her passion and love for old Bollywood. When she says she’s sourced old material from various sources – including buying old issues of Stardust on eBay – we have absolutely no reason to doubt this!

It is possible that Times of India have independently published old magazine covers too – I do not wish to cast aspersions on them. Similarly it is extremely low of you to cast aspersions on Memsaab’s character and an apology would be in order if you did not mean this in jest.

I APPLAUD YOU wow what a treasure trove I have always wanted to see how an affiar of those days in bollywood was different to now

ofcourse now if u look at couples in bolly I feel they are less and less influenced by what their parents think and make their own descisions in regards to being together- its more the norm to see interracial couples- muslim and hindu couples- BUT back then they were so shameful I mean they had two wives- first dharmrndar then salim khan – Would actresses of the modern era even stand for being second best like hema ji- NO nowadays its ‘ divorce your first wife then u can be with me’ Did women have no respect at all for themselves back then???

but I lol’ed at hema’s mom bitching about dharam to tabloids and then boldy facing him the next day in her own house LOL yet hema never said ‘ oh I told my mom off for saying that’ yet I wholeheartedly believe someone like kareena would yell at her mother for saying that about her boyfriend saif – and that she wouldnt cave into any peer pressure from her parents – oh and we have live in relationships now also and actresses choosing to marry later on in life as opposed to in their teens

I really admire memsaab for preserving the 70s bollywood stuff and I picked up an exclusive interview of my most favorite golden couple Hemamalini & Dharmendra, titled as Aas pass in pdf format. Thanks a lot. And I wish to have further articles if any during that period from your library, about these legends and divas of hindi cinema. I am very if i got intimated. Thanks againg for preserving such wonderful information.

Thanks a tonne for your passion and the awesone job of preserving a part of the golden era!

I’d love to see more articles from this edition of the magazine (The Best of Stardust 1978), especially the one on “The truth about the divorce – Raakhee – Ajay Biswas”. Can you be bribed into posting more articles from this magazine?!?!?

I get very emotional when I see those covers. Reminds me of another period in my life when everything was lovely. My dear mother was there for me and I didn’t have a care in the world. I used to be so happy.